Edible cereal product and process of making



u May 29,

(130MB 8. SAUNDERS, OI AKRON, OHIO,

EDIBLE CEREAL PRODUCT AND PROCRB OI ASSIGNOR OI ONE-HALF TO ADDISOH Tw SAUNDERS, OI CHIOOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS.

Application lled August 26, 1021.

To cllwhamt'tmay concem:

Be it known that I a citizen of the United kron, in the cou of Ohio, have of State Gnonoa H. Snunnnns, States, and resident nty ofSummit, in the invented certain new and useful Improvements in Edible Cereal Products and the following is Processes of Making, of which a specification.

on relates to the cereal present inventi IOd I IClS, disclosed in ap lication for Lettors Patent of the me April 16th, 1920, Serial No.

additional concerns certain volved in the method tain new characteristics of the United States filed by 374,458, and features inof treatment, and cerproduct resulting from these additional features of treatment.

In carrying out the method set forth in the application referred to, 99 is soaked in water to high heat to cause quick the cereal grain and thereafter subjected conversion of the starch before a drying out action of the interior Of'id'lbfillhln can take place, and to cause dry par Hg grain.

of the surface of the In my present improvement, after the in has been soaked in fresh water, as reernsd to in my former application, I subject it (1) to a period o taining' salt, and (2 to f shall wt in the treatment mat but without separatln agmants of the grain.

I find that for some flavor o the roduct the dan r o the grain sourin soaking, by

salt-a roximatcly one pound of h f y gallons of water-and dim-{1n si ty dai ry salt to allowing the grain to ragments or smal or skin, this being done at a certain soakin in water con- I mac anically break 1 pieces the parched of the grain with or removi parchc shell from the uses I improve the I also avoid changes and that b the 1st water having stand in this solution from six to twelve hours. This time is considered as a. part of t soaking.

The actual time the size of the grain. P P

grains from the solution,

and if, on chewing,

he total time given for aired do nds upon '0 ascerta id when the r condition is obtained I remove a few rinse thesurface the body or center of MAKING.

Serial lib. 495,467.

grains.)

Care must be exercised not to use too as the finished product is strong a solution, more sa1t t o the taste than the water-saturated in.

I a so find that in some ain, when treated by the process above re erred to, the

parched surface, shell or epidermis 18 somewhat too resistant to mastication-is hard to chew.

b I have diiscovcrtifl that I b k yastep urin t eprocessin rea in u this parched sh ll by mcchanic al means, and without separating it from the. body of the grain.

The accompan ing drawing represents an apparatus by w ich m present invention may be practiced and the new product obtained.

The apparatus includes a plurality of inclined screens 2, each com oscd of shallow sides of metal strips 3 and top and bottom walls of perforated metal or wire screen material 4, 4, between which the material asses. Any suitable number of screens may o employed. For economy of space the incline in reverse direction, and the grains elivered from the lower end of one screen are received b the upper end of the next screen low. uitable chutes 2 are interposed to direct the material from one screen section to the other.

he screens are supported (near each of the four corners) by hangers 5 attached to arms 6 adjustab y allixed to vertical rockshafts 7 resting (or operating) in suitable (lubricated) bearings 8.

low the screens are mounted as plates, or heaters, 9. These are suppliecf with gas through piping from any suitable source.

The heaters, orburnors, have their upper walls perforated so that a large number of gas jets will be produced to heat the grains as they pass down along the screens.

ess heaters rest upon supportin bars 11 (extending under the majo part 0% their length) and these bars rest in turn upon can overcome this rods 12, at right angles to them, extendin across beneath them and removably locate in perforations 13 of the vertica hanger stri 14 of which there is one adjacent each of t e four corners of the frame 1.

To facilitate the traverse of the grains down along the screens the screens may be agitate shafts 7 about their axes.

This may any suitable means such as shown-or as ollows:

Arms 15 are afiixed to two of the rockshafts 7, at right angles to the arms 6, as shown. They are connecte by the rod 16, an extension of which, 16' operates longitu' dinally in the bearing 17. T e extension 16' is connected with one end of the crank r 18, the other end of which is operatively attached by a suitable pin to an expansion 19 of an extension of the shaft of the roll 20, and eccentricall of said shaft.

When the rol s are rotated, as is the case when the grain is passin through the device, the rocking of the s afts results.

The pair of rolls 20, 20 is designed to receive between them the cereal grains as they ass from one of the screens to the next uring the processing (as later described). They may e driven by power from any suitable source, and I have indicated one of the gears of this driving means. e cookin results as in my previous 9. plication from the application of the big heat to the lgrains after they have been soaked and whi e their interior portions are still wet. The high heat converts the starch, slightly expands the grains, and parches the exterior, leaving the natural surface in a dry arched condition. In some cases this parc ed exterior is too resistant for mastication and by passing the grains through the rotating rolls 2020' this parched skin or covering is broken into small fragments, but these are not se arated from the cooked or doughy interior, ut on the contrary remain adhering thereto. This doughy interior portion of the grain provides a yielding or spongelike backing for the hard exterior shell, so that the fragments resulting from its fracture, by passing between the rolls, will not fly off as would be the case if the interior portion of the grain were hard and 'resistant, in which event a crushing action,

such as is given by the rolls, would be liable to crack not only the hard shell but also the inner portion of the grain itself, resulting in dividing the grain up into fragments. Such is not the case with my method and productthe grain is passed through the rolls, remains intact though its form changed, but not crushed flat.

The soaking of the grain first in fresh water and then in salt water can be accomplished in one vat, by drawing of! the fresh surfaces durinfi tge water and introducing the salt solution, or separate vats maylbe used, one for the fresh Wttlisl soak and t e other for the salt water soa During the soaking of the grain the water may be changed as many times as may be desired, and after being subjecte to the salt bath the rain may be rinsed in water, and a ter thorough draining it is ready to be introduced upon th and sub'ected to the intense heat existing there. he grain while being soaked is, preferably, well stirred.

The soaked rain is introduced at the point X throug a suitable hopper and it then passes down the first or up or screen, through the rolls, and thence own from screen to screen to the dischar e point.

While the temperatures emp oyed at different stages of t e operation, and the duration of time in which the grains 'are subjected to treatment by these temperatures, may vary according to the kind of grain being treated, and the size and condition of the grain, I would state that at the upper screen the temperature may be a proximate- 1y 1100 to 1300 F. The period of time t at the grains are subjected to this heat is about, say forty seconds, this being the time necessary for the grain to traverse the first screen from its u per to its lower end and before passing t rough the rolls 20-20. This heat will convert the starchy interior, slightly ex and it, and it will also dry the exterior o the rain, if this has not been previously drie and then parch it, so that when the grain reaches the rolls its exterior will dry parched and its interior will be steamed cooked.

For larger grains, the movement would need to be slower than for small sizes, and thus the duration of treatment would be longer. This duration is regulated by inclining the screens more or less.

The temperature for the screens over which the grain passes after the rolling may be approximately 400 F. for the first one, and 350 F. for the second and succeeeding screen or screens, and the pitch of these screens should be such as to make the period before discharge about three times as great as that prior to the rolling.l

Durin the continuation of t e cooking, after ro ling, the grain re-expands or resumes a proximate y the form it had before rol ing. The rolls do not produce a flat wafer-like product, and are not designed to do so.

The space between the rolls 20-20 is therefore so regulated that, while on the one hand the grains are pressed to such an extent as to break up the pgmhed shell and their general shape has en altered, this alteration is not carried to as will materially such a degree affect the general aspect of the grain, such as would be the case if the grain were changed from a substantially globular form to a disc or waferlike form, and whatever degree of change takes lace is subsequently modified by the partia restoration of the grain to its original shape by the heating after-passing between t e rolls, which results in re-ex ansion of the grains, as above mentioned. e final product is somewhat flattened in respect to the original sha of the grain, some grains more than ot ers.

fter leaving the screens the material may be made to travel throu h a zone of gentle heat to complete the frying of the interior.

The mechanical cracking results in severing the hard shell, but the severed portions resulting from this mechanical crackin are not widely separated as in puffed pro ucts.

e above specification and the accompanying drawing are to be considered as descriptive of an example of ways and means to carry my invention into ractice and are not to be regarded as limitm the scoae of my invention to the things s own an described, reliance in this respect being had upon the definitions set forth in the appended claims.

he mechanical breakin of the shell of the rain may be SUOCBSSEIlIy done before any eat is applied, as well as after this shell is parched.

When the ain is treated according to the modification of the process just mentioned, i. e., passing it through the rolls before heating instead of after heating, the soaking need not be of the same duration as is the case in the process as first described. Assuming that a certain water or moisture content should exist in the grain when it is acted on by the rolls, it is obvious that if the rolling takes place after heating some of the moisture will have been driven off by the heating action and to compensate for this loss the initial soak mustbe greater in the case of heating before rolling as compared with rolling the soaked gra n while cold. Further, when the rolling is done cold a much lower heat is adequate to do the parching and cooking because of the fact that there is less moisture to deal with.

While I do not limit m self to any fixed riod of time for the soaking of the grain l may state as an example that a period of about twelve hours sufiices for soaking when the grain is to be rolled before heating as against 24 hours'or so when the heat is to be applied before rolling. Also, while the temperature of 1100 to 1300 degrees F. mentioned above is reggired for heatmg the longer soaked grain fore rolling a temrature of about 400 to 500 F. is enough or the less soaked grain in the modified then in salt water,

process involving rolling before cooking.

Broadly speaking therefore, the processing includes soaking and then rolling of the grain, and heating either before or after the rolling. For the best results the various steps should follow each other quickly whatever the order of these steps may be.

While I do not limit to self to the soaking in fresh water first than in salt water and then rinsing I prefer to use these steps because the fres water more quickly advances the soak, and if the rinsing is not done the salt from the surface of the grains clogs the screening surface and the burners.

I h apparatus may be enclosed if desired.

claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, an edible product cons sting of a cereal grain having a dry (parched surface portion, and its interior b0 y portion steam cooked, said grain being slightly expanded and with its parched portion mechanically broken into fragments, said fragments in their approximate entirety remaining adhering to the body portion.

2. As a new article of manufacture, an edible product consisting of a cereal grain having a dry parched surface portion, and its interior body portion steam cooked, said grain bein sligthly expanded and with its parche ortion mechanically cracked, said grain being slightly flattened from its original form.

3. As a new article of manufacture, an edible product consisting of a rolled cereal grain having a d parched surface portion, and its interior bod ortion steam cooked, said grain being s ig tly ex )anded and with its parched partion cracke 4. The herein described process, consisting in soakin the rain in water, subjecting the same to igh eat to cause expansion and quick conversion of the starch before a drying out action of the interior of the grain can take place, and also to cause dry parchinlg of the surface of the grain, mechanica y cracking the parched shell and then subjecting the grain to further heat to re-expand and dry it, substantially as describe 5. The herein described rocess, consistmg in soaking the grainnn fresh water, t en rinsing, and then subjecting it to high heat to cause expansion and quick conversion of the salt impregnated starch, before a drying out action of the interior of the grain can take place, and also to cause dry parching of the surface of the grain.

6. The herein described process, consisting in soaking the grain in a salt solution until its interior becomes impregnated with salt, and then subjecting the same to hi h heat to cause quick conversion of the stare before the drying out action of the interior can take lace, and also to cause dry archrolling will remain adhering to the interior in of t 0 Surface of the grain, su stanbody, subjecting the grain toheatto expand tia 1y as described. its moisture interior, substantially as de- 7. The herein described process consistscribed. a ing in soakin the grain, thereafter sub- In testimony whereof, I aflix my signajecting it to to g to crack its exterior, and ture.

while the interior body is moia and. soft so that the fragments resulting from the GEORGE H. SAUNDERS.

Certificate of Correction.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,457,004, granted May 29, 1923, upon the'ap lication of George H. Saunders, of Akron, Ohio, for an im rovement in Edible real Products and Processes of Making, errors appear in t e rinted specification requiring correction as follows: P e 3, line 104, claim 3, or the mimpelled word portion read portion; page 4, ins 11, for the word moisture read moist,- and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 17th day of July, A. D., 1923.

[sun] WM. A. KINNAN, Acting Uonwm'uimr of Patents. 

